Well, today is my first day of being 'good' again.. or so I hope! So far so good.. breakfast was tea and cheerios. Lunch will be frozen pizza (not the healthiest but within my 350 calorie allowance for lunch!) and dinner I'm not sure yet.. will have to figure that out!

Unfortunately I am up a pound again today! I am assuming its all PMS water-retention.. we'll see. But, reguardless, my official beginning weight for this run is 154.5.. and on my way down!

First of all, CONGRATULATIONS to tryin' hard!! That is so great!! Any suggestions to the rest of us on how you kept your motivation up and how you lost the weight? Any advise would help me! I love hearing the success stories because it helps to keep me going.

Nola- I'm glad that the BLF is working for you. I lurk on the BFL site from time to time and they seem to have success from the program.

Christine- that book sounds pretty interesting. I like the way it has divided the calories througout the day. That would help with any hunger...I may have to try that! As for the weight gain, I'm sure its water weight. I was having the same problem a couple of weeks ago and its just now starting to come off (again for the 20th time)

Holly-It sounds like you are doing great! Congrats on your previous loss! Sorry I'm just now getting around to acknowledge it!

Sounds like everyone is keeping on track!! I've been keeping up with my walking and hope to have a pound loss by Saturday. I even did some light weights last night for my arms. I went shopping and found all of these cute sleeveless sweaters. Talk about motivation! Maybe in a couple of months I'll be able to sport one!

Way to go Tryin' Hard I am so happy for you. That must be the most awesome feeling. You have come so far. Sometimes I feel, like I'm sure we all do at times, that I will never reach my goal. Your success is a true inspiration.

Nancy, I hope your trip is going well.

Pamela, If your out there, just say hello so that we know you are doing ok.

Everyone else, keep up the good work. I am still struggling with getting back on track, but I haven't given up. Having you all here is a big help.

Hi everyone! Thanks for all the congrats! Now the hard part--keeping it off!
My only advice is to find what works for you. For me, it's walking at 5:30 a.m. and finding a low-cal bread that I like. I also save calories for dessert every night and I've learned to say "I don't eat that." That phrase is very empowering. Yesterday there was entenmann's "super crumb" cake in the school office. But, I don't eat that kind of stuff anymore, so it was so easy to say that I don't eat that.
You can all do it. I know you can. If I can keep this weight off, you can keep losing. Lots of positive self talk in the morning helps a lot too. That's what I do when I'm walking. It's amazing I haven't broken my arm from patting myself on the back, but DARNIT--it's tough to get out of bed and go for a walk!!!
Once again, thanks to all--you are all very special.

__________________
250 on 1/1/01 /147 current /My goal is to keep it all off!!

Went away for the weekend, then worked last 3 days, so hard to write.Still trying to keep the calories down with the right choices. I know I am eating a lot better and certainly know all the food I could have eaten. Only have lost 3 pounds in 2 weeks. I am not the pleased until I try to be rationale about it and know slow off, stay off. I do know I probably didn't always make the absolute best choice, but don't want to get in that deprived frame of mind either. I have used the treadmill or walked every day and that alone is an improvement. Just would like to see the pounds leaving a little faster-just like everyone else I am sure.Everyone sounds like they have lost so much and I have so far to go. You all deserve a pat on the back. I hope I get there, too.

Hereicome,
Maybe this will make you feel better. I started my new lifestyle change last April. So it's taken me a yr to take off 57 lbs. I started off kinda slow. I gradually increased my physical activity. I didn't really start to do better until October. It can be frustrating, but some day soon, you will be able to say OMG I lost ____ lbs. Did you get a chance to read the quote that Christine wrote? It is so true in all of our cases. I'm glad I started a yr ago. Look how far I've come and you can do the same. I know a girl on the web that has lost 100 lbs in a yr. Just take it a day at a time. If you aren't perfect everyday. It's ok. Just stay focused and try again to do better. We are all here for you and we know what you are going through. You can be a big loser just like us.

Hereicome~I completely agree with Melisa. I just try to take things one day at a time. Try to think of this as a lifestyle change rather than a quick fix. With that in mind, you may not reach your goal in 5,6,or 7 months..but if you keep at it, you WILL eventually get there.

When I don't show a loss on the scale (which is quite often these days ) I try to look at it as..I may not be lighter according to the scale but I am healthier than I was yesterday, last week, or last year. Like I say eventually we will all get there!!!

It sounds like you are doing a great job!! I truly believe that exercise is the key. Walking has helped me to maintain a loss for several years, so what you are doing now is definitely going to help you in the long run! Good luck and stick with it!! Soon you will be seening the results of all of your hard work!

hello... guess what !!!!!!!! i went back to ww tonight. It felt so good to get back onto that scale knowing that next week it was comin down i love going to ww ! i weighed in at 180.2 so i will post next week my weigh in.
i am so excited. I am so ready to do this.
I am so glad i have found all of you.

Christine - Thanks for the new thread! Good luck with the "new day". I'm sure you'll do well. Is your mom coming soon to visit?

Hi Jacklyn - I like the positive thinking that even if the scale doesn't reflect it, we know we are healthier than the day before.

Dawna - good that you are so pumped for ww! That will motivate you.

hereicome - you are doing so well to treadmill or walk each day. Exercise is truly the key.

Melisa - I am also in struggling mode this week. For me, it's my husband and son suggesting to eat cr*p that they know I want to keep away from. I hope it's just a temporary phase because they've been supportive in the past. I think it's the summer season and the associated food treats - hotdogs, chips, ice cream that's driving them crazy

tryin'hard, I really like the phrase "I don't eat that anymore". It certainly does empower one!

I have been able to keep up getting up at 5:30 to do a tape, but haven't walked in about 4 days. I've got to get back to that....And I've been doing evening eating, like bowls of cereal, piece of toast...have got to cut that out too

Today's another day!!! I'll give it my best shot.

Hello to Kanola (how's your Dad?), the vacationing Nancy, t-girl, darmha, hockeychick, and we haven't heard from Pamela nor Sprite - we hope you are just busy, and ok!

Well, yesterday was better than Wednesday but I still didnt do 100% or near that. I was doing well until we had evening errands to run and wound up eating at McDonald's! What I'm doing for today is going up to the 1600 level (broken down like the 90/10 plan does it). I have to ease into this so if I do 1600 and can stick to it a while, then I can maybe drop down to 1400. We'll see how that goes today.

My mom arrives tomorrow night. Then Sunday we are invited to my in-laws for lunch so I dunno how well I'll do Sunday but other than that, hopefully I'll behave!!

Dawna~ that's so great that you are so motivated! It's exciting to think of the progress you'll have in the next month!

I've been doing okay lately. Kept up with my walking and have actually started to alternate some light lifting into my program. I've been alternating each night from stomach crunches, weights for arms and lunges. I'm hoping that building some muscle will help me to reach my goals! Wearing jeans today and they are actually a little big! So that's a good feeling
I've got my big weigh in tomorrow. Hopefully I will see a pound loss...but we'll see.